Fruit-box



(No Model.)

J. G. LETTELIER.

FRUIT BOX.

No. 398,739. Patented Feb. 26, 1889.

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nrrno STATES ATENT OFFICE.

.lOllX G. LETTELIER, OF LOS AXGELES, CALIFORNIA.

FRUlT BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part; of Letters Patent No. 398,739, dated February 26, 1889- Applioation filed May 9, 1888- Serial No. 273,285. (No model.)

To (1N 107mm it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN G. LETTELlEn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los tngeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of (ialit'ornia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in lihniit-l-hixeso't' which the following is a specification. I

My invention relates to that class of fruit boxes constructed of thin strips of wood bent across each other and bound at the top by a strip or strips of tin or other sheet metal. Such boxes are frusto-pyramidal in shape to facilitate packing the empty boxes in a small space. In boxes of this class the tin is commonly secured to the wood by means of indentations.

The object; of my invention is to devise an improved means for securing together the narrow metal binding and the thin wooden strips of which such boxes are made.

My invention consists of an improvement in the form and position of the indentations,

wherel v the tin is made to conform to the frusto-conical shape of the box, and is also 5 made to more perfectly clamp the wood, there" by avoiding the liability of being drawn off the box while being handled.

My improvement comprises creases in the strips of wood and edges of the trough arranged alternately upon opposite sides thereof and extending from the edges of the trough toward, but not to, the end of the wooden strips within the trough, and forming alternating arches the bases and crowns of which 5 fit upon and sustain each other.

The drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure l is a pm'spective view of my improved box. Fig. 2 is a section showing the manner in which the tin and wood conform to each other. a section of the box on line .r .r, Fig.

A A are the wooden strips of which the box is formed. 1 l is the t in binding with which the strips of wood are hound togctlnn'. The ends of the wooden strips are inserted in a trough of tin, B, in the ordinary manner; but instead of the indentations ordinarily used to secure the wood in the trough I substitute the creases D D, arranged alternately upon the opposite sides of the trough and extending from the lower edges or mouth of the trough toward,but not to, the upper edge of the bind ing, being the bottom of the trough, thus crimping that side of the trough nearest the bottom of the box, and thereby shortening it, while the upper edge is left its original length, thus giv 'ing to the binding B B afrusto-pyramidal shape to correspond with the shape of the box.

The creases in the wood and the edges of the trough form the bases of a series of arches upon each side of the trough, and the creases on one side bind the wood and press it firmly against the arch between the creases on the other side, and vice versa. By this means the crimped binding is stiffened and made stronger than it would otherwise be, for the reason thatthe arch between the creases on one side coincides with the creases on the other side, and the bases and crowns of the oppositely-alternating arches formed 011 the opposite sides of the strip fit upon and sustain each other through the intervening wood. The wood is curved back and forth along the lower edge or mouth ot the trough, as shown in Fig. 2, in a sinuous line between the two sides of the trough, and as the creases do not extend to the top of the strip of wood, as appears by Fig. 3, the end of the strip in the straight and unbent bottom of the trough remains substantially unbent, and therefore will afford resistance to withdrawal between the bent edges of the trough.

It is obvious that various equivalents for the wood and tin may be used, and I do not wish to be limited to the use of wood and tin only.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a fruitbox comprising the wooden strips 3 A A and the trough 15, fitted upon the ends Fig. 2 is a perspective view of i wood, and the edges of the trough arranged at the strips, the creases D in the strips of alternately upon opposite sides thereof and extending from the edges of the trough to ward, but not to, the end of the wooden strips within the trough and forming oppositely-alternating arches the bases and crowns of which fit upon and sustain each other.

JOHN G. LETTELlER.

lYitnesses:

Jets. R. TowNsEND, A. C. CONNER. 

